(SurvivalDaily.com) – The events of the past year and a half have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that embracing a prepper lifestyle is completely justified. Unfortunately, there are still those among the population who don’t get it. When the next big emergency strikes, they will once again find themselves running out of food (and toilet paper). As these essentials run dry, the risk of those without the foresight to plan ahead resorting to thievery is going to rise.
Yes, many of us have contingency plans to deal with marauding hordes, but they aren’t the only threat to our goods. The government also has plans in place to raid your home in the event of a national emergency. Really. Executive Order 13603, signed by former President, Barack Obama, gives the government authority to seize your precious supplies and redistribute them as they see fit.
Did we spend our time, energy, and money on readying ourselves for the dark times only to watch it be taken away and given to those who didn’t have the foresight to do so themselves? What can we do to ensure this doesn’t happen?
They Can’t Take What They Can’t Find
The obvious answer is to hide it all; the not-so-obvious part is where. Sure, you can fill up dresser drawers and cabinets, or stash stuff under your bed — but anyone with a bit of common sense is going to search these spots. You’re going to have to think outside the box if you want to keep your supplies off the radar.
The Attic
Your attic is a great place to stash away essential supplies. Be careful putting food here though, it may be dark (which is good), but it also can become incredibly hot during the summer months. But don’t think they won’t look in here. Stash your attic goods with things commonly found in attics, underneath old photo albums or even in children’s toys. You might even pull out your insulation, store items in the gap below it, then put a false ceiling to the room below in place. Put your insulation on top of the new ceiling.
Crawl Space
Dark, out of the way, and hard to access. But moisture can be a problem here, so take precautions to keep it out of your preps. Also, pests can be an issue, so seal off any food you hide away to make sure they can’t get in. You won’t want anyone to see your stores at a glance, so take things a step further and bury your storage containers here.
Inside the Walls
Even if raiders do make it in, no one is going to think about ripping the drywall down to look for hidden stashes. Something as simple as removing a section of trim and making small troves to hide valuables can work. If you have the time and skill, you can even create false walls to hide essentials.
Inside Box Springs
Storing food under the bed may be a bit obvious, but putting it inside your box springs isn’t. Even if someone thinks to overturn your mattress to look for items hiding there, they likely won’t bother tearing your box springs apart.
In Old TVs
If you have an old television, you can gut it out and store supplies inside. The first-generation flat screens are a good option here as they are huge and notoriously heavy. Also, if the power is out, no one is going to want to run off with a giant television.
Outdoors
If you get creative, there are a wide variety of options available to hide your preps outside. Here are a few to consider:
- Inside a birdhouse.
- Buried in sealed containers. This works especially well under a garden — no one will question why the dirt is disturbed nor will they think to dig under the plants.
- Under potted plants.
- Beneath the deck or porch.
- In a shed.
Use a Decoy
Along with having the vast majority of your preps hidden away, it’s a good idea to leave just enough supplies out in the open to keep an invader from becoming suspicious. If S just HTF, anyone who comes looking for your food is going to expect to find at least the normal essentials. Empty cabinets will be a dead giveaway… leading them to tear your home apart in search of hidden items.
With a bit of creativity, you can come up with truly genius places to hide your preps in plain sight. Regardless of who comes knocking at your door, if they can’t find your supplies, they won’t be able to make off with them.
Do you have any unusual hiding places where you store supplies? Reply to your email and share your thoughts, we would love to hear from you!
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